Smooth Jazz
Are you tired of music being complex? Or original? Or surprizing? Well, good thing for you : smooth jazz exists. What is smooth jazz? Smooth jazz is what happens when you take a controversial, innovative and almost political genre, and make it as inoffensive as possible. Smooth jazz evolved from fusion jazz and dumbed down versions of more traditional jazz (the main exemple being what Wes Montgomery recorded in the late 60s, that featured very little of his usual complex guitar improvisation andthat, even back then, the critics welcomed as "pleasent background music"). It took all the cheesy synths that appeared in fusion, and the simplistic solos, blended them together to create the less daring form of jazz music. Why it is so bad The main problem with smooth jazz is that it took all the fun of jazz away and only kept the uninteresting parts of it. If mood and atmospheres were some of the major strength of Fusion and made some main pieces like Bitches Brew stand out, then Smooth jazz took the easier approach to them and only kept it completely one-sided. The synths are cool in fusion bands because they make everything moody? Put some everywhere until you're moody and atmospheric enough. Building an ambiance with few instruments is hard? Add some cliché samples of jingle bells. Afraid it could get boring? Add a few chords on a slightly distorded guitar. Need some solos to look like a real, technical jazzman? Play some simple arpeges and hold some notes on your tenor sax. That will do the trick. Basically, smooth jazz gathered all the cheese that was present in jazz, and left the complexity, virtuosity and everything that made it good. Why it could have been good The most (potentially) interesting element of Smooth jazz is the ambiance. Unlike fusion jazz, smooth jazz always tried to be some easy-listening music. therefore,instead of creating some ghostly, odd or spatial ambiances, it focused on chilly, relaxing, comfortable,even slightly uplifting ambiances. This, in itself, is not a bad idea at all. However,it resulted in simply playing at low tempos with tons of reverb. With this misdirection, smooth jazz threw it's main redeeming feature from the window. however, there was still one possibly interesting point, which is not relying too much on virtuosity of the soloist. Loosening the technical aspect could have let to some experimentation, with less soloing and more collective construction. but that was a bit too complicated for a music that was trying to be easy. Instead, the musicians decided to focus on simple solos. It could have been an interesting antithesis to avant-gard and free jazz, but it failed quite miserably. Worthwile smooth jazz The four or five albums of The Reppingtons. That's it. Really. Just listen to that and you can say you listened to smooth jazz as a whole. Every band, every artist sounds the exact same. Same synths, same sax, same guitar. The whole genre was based arround the idea of being simple and easy for the listener, and it did so well that you barely need ten minutes to understand the whole damn thing. Smooth jazz reached its goal of being some good background music. Because any tentative to pay attention to it will result in boredom. It took away any daring aspect of jazz and became one of the most accessible subgenres of jazz, but also one of the most one-sided. Want some moody jazz that does not try to be unsettling or uncomfortable or weird? Listen to Gerry Mulligan. Se did 20 years before what smooth jazz tries to do, and did it much better. Want some simple yet efficient solos and composition? Listen to some big bands. Notorious smooth jazz musicians and bands *Kenny G, who alone can be taken as responsible for all kind of stereotypes surrounding jazz. *Nathan East, who s actually a good bassist and singer and thus proved than being a skilled musician will not make your taste any better. *Casiopea, a japanese band who got their name from the synths they used, apparently. Also known for having a bassist who got shit done and a great drummer who sold out to Yamaha and became a novelty to advertize their electronic drumsets. Both sticked together and formed a light-version of the band called Jimsaku. *Lee Ritenour, who carries Wes Montgomery's legacy of hitting the charts with wasted skills and boring guitar sounds. Category:Jazz